Hundred Explanations of Array Studies

Heaven's will!

Lu Li stared blankly at the metal spirit core in his hand. He had already prepared himself to comb through every shop in Maple Fragrance City.

He had even considered whether, if he could not find that specific metal spirit core, he could substitute another one and still forge the Qi-Combining Cauldron.

Yet things had gone remarkably smoothly—so smoothly that it caught him off guard.

After all, he had been unlucky for far too long.

"Sharp eyes, honored customer. Have you taken a liking to this spirit core?"

"How much is it?"

"Fifty spirit stones. Just fifty spirit stones. Go take a look outside—where else can you find fresh stock this cheap?"

"I'm asking you: is this really brand-new?"

"What a joke. I run a spiritual-materials shop. Would I sell you a secondhand spirit core? Look at this shell—shiny and bright. How could it be secondhand?"

Expressionless, Lu Li repeated himself, his voice slightly heavier.

"I'm asking you: is this a brand-new spirit core?"

"Are you buying it or not?"

"If it's brand-new, of course I'll buy it."

Lu Li's original estimate had been based on it being secondhand, around thirty to forty spirit stones. Yet the other party had opened with fifty spirit stones, a price nearly on par with brand-new goods.

"If this is secondhand, I'll eat it. Satisfied?"

"Good. You said it."

With that, Lu Li closed the spirit core in his palm and twisted hard. Before the shopkeeper could stop him, he had already removed the shell, exposing the array disk within.

"There, take a look at this..."

For a moment, Lu Li forgot the term. Elder Duan reminded him:

"Spirit-tin crystal chip."

"Ah, right, spirit-tin crystal chip. It's been worn down like this, and you still dare call it brand-new?"

"Hiss—"

The shopkeeper's mouth twitched, and his heart skipped a beat. He knew he had run into someone knowledgeable. Lu Li did not look very old, and his voice still sounded childish—no more than eleven or twelve—yet he knew secrets only insiders in the trade would know. Could he be a sect disciple?

But sect disciples generally bought through sect channels and would not come to his shop for supplies. Perhaps he was the child of some great aristocratic clan. He could not afford to offend him.

With that thought, the shopkeeper forced a smile.

"This... it must have been put in the wrong place. Ah, honored customer, please calm down, calm down. Let me apologize. If you still want it, I'll give it to you for thirty spirit stones. How about it?"

"Twenty."

"No, no. Twenty-five. If you agree, honored customer, take it."

Maple Fragrance City was not some tiny place like Southern Sun Town. It was said that an elder from White Moon Palace was stationed in the city, and this Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was a shop under White Moon Palace. Twenty-five was already a low enough price, so Lu Li decided to quit while he was ahead.

Afterward, he bought a pile of miscellaneous spiritual materials, tools, and books. Including the metal spirit core, he spent a total of one hundred and fifty-two spirit stones.

"Does the honored customer intend to forge an automaton artifact? Our shop offers forging services on commission, at affordable prices."

"Commission forging? There's no need for that."

Lu Li tossed out those words lightly, then flicked his sleeve and left, leaving behind a thin, unfathomable silhouette.

It was not that he did not want to hire someone to forge it for him. The main reason was that his agreement with Elder Duan had been that the automaton artifact had to be forged with his own hands. Lu Li had a powerful premonition that if he broke that agreement, something truly terrifying would happen.

After leaving the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Lu Li spent two taels of silver to buy a great deal of food and brought it back to the inn. There were twenty-three days left until the agreed deadline, and this would be his food for the next twenty-three days.

At this point, he still had sixty-eight spirit stones on him—equivalent to twenty-three kidneys.

Over the next twenty-three days, Lu Li began a death-seclusion retreat—well, it truly was a "death" retreat. Succeed, or die trying. Either forge the Qi-Combining Cauldron, or drop dead on the spot.

"To have gathered every spiritual material needed for the artifact, your performance has exceeded this old woman's expectations. Though you have yet to take the artificer examination, judging by your attainments in artificing, you have roughly reached the level of a Heaven-grade artificer.

"But this old woman must still remind you: a first-turn automaton artifact is not so easily forged. Apart from attainments in artificing, you also need attainments in the welding arts. How much do you know about welding?"

Lu Li scratched his head and answered uncertainly:

"A little?"

"It's over, it's over. Child, you're completely finished."

"Is that really so exaggerated?"

"I'll show you a clear road now. Hand over control of the Qi-Combining Cauldron to me, and I'll help you forge it. Only then can you pass this trial. Rest assured, this old woman is no villain. I won't take your life."

"Hehehe, so this is what you were waiting for. Don't even think about it."

"Tsk, you child, why are you so stubborn? This old woman is doing this for your own good."

"No need."

Lu Li opened the first page of Hundred Explanations of Array Studies. To master the welding arts, one not only had to study arcane arrays and understand the principles behind how arrays operated, but also undergo specialized training in welding.

By Azure Sun Hall's standards, an ordinary disciple would need at least two years of cultivation to advance from a Human-grade Welding Master to a Heaven-grade Welding Master.

It was not as though Duan Xuanyuan had never seen geniuses before. Unlike other elders, who gathered three thousand disciples, she followed the principle of preferring scarcity to mediocrity. In a hundred years of cultivation, she had accepted only two disciples.

One of those disciples was named Yang Jue, and the other He Chuan. Both possessed exceptional talent and could at least rank among the top ten of their generation.

Senior Brother Yang Jue had taken three months from beginner to passing the Heaven-grade Welding Master assessment, while Junior Brother He Chuan had taken two and a half months.

Setting aside the complexity of array theory, welding was also a craft that emphasized hands-on practice. Without spirit-conducting copper to train with and accumulate experience in the welding path, it was simply impossible to reach the Heaven-grade.

"Why are you flipping through it so fast? Have you finished reading it all?"

"I thought the first chapter was rather simple, so I skipped it."

"...How did I never realize you were such a cocky brat?"

Lu Li neither confirmed nor denied it. He was a little excited right now. Before reading it, he would never have known; once he did, he discovered that the theories explained in Hundred Explanations of Array Studies coincided with the electronic technology of his previous life without prior consultation.

Electrons had been replaced by spiritual power, while all manner of electrical components had been replaced by specific array patterns. Lu Li even suspected that the person who had written this book was an Extraterritorial Heavenly Demon as well.

This was finally a perfect match for his profession.

If he had known earlier, why would he have gone to the stamping workshop?

Lu Li only hated that he had been born in Southern Sun Town. If only he had been born in a town with a welding workshop, if only he had encountered welding arts sooner, how could he have fallen to such a state?

As for the hands-on work of welding boards, Lu Li recalled a painful memory he could not bear to look back on.

In his previous life, during his senior year, he had been sold by a heartless school to a heartless electronics factory. For a monthly wage of eight hundred yuan, he had labored bitterly for half a year. If he did not finish, they would not issue his internship certificate.

Of course, Lu Li was recalling his previous life. This was the cultivation world.

Now that he had left the stamping workshop and had a little spare money in hand, it was tantamount to escaping the sea of suffering. As for sects and the like, at most they ate a few mortals. They would not be like those strange cultivation novels, using disciples to refine artifacts.

Everything would get better.

That was what Lu Li thought.